THE FOUR SEASONS OF LIFE

I'm thankful to live in a place that has all four seasons.  My favorite one is fall, because of the beautiful colors, cooler temperatures, and so much to celebrate in our family:  birthdays, anniversaries, and of course  the anticipation of Thanksgivings and Christmases to come.

Life has its seasons as well.  I've pondered those lately, seeing life divided into the following seasons:

SEASON ONE: LOOKING FORWARD (Spring)

Babies and young children look forward as they grow, change, and see their entire lives ahead of them.  They face the future, which seems interminable to them.  The sunrise has just occurred, and its rays have just peeked over the treetops.



SEASON TWO - LOOKING INWARD (Summer)
Adolescence brings inner searching:  what will I do with my life?  Young adults are starting careers, getting married, raising families, and all of these things prompt them to use their inner strengths in order to fulfill all their responsibilities.  There are also mature adults with a couple of decades of work behind them, children raised, and retirement looming ahead in a decade or so--these are satisfying years, the middle of life--as the sun shines its brightest, straight down on us at noon.



SEASON THREE - LOOKING BACK (Fall)

Those in this season of life have either just retired or have been retired for years.  They tend to look back upon all their accomplishments, successes, and wonder where all those years went!  This season can be a time of introspection, taking up hobbies they had no time for in previous seasons.  The sunset is just beyond, although the sun has not yet reached the horizon.



SEASON FOUR - LOOKING UP (Winter)

The final season can be greatly blessed by what one makes of it.  In looking back over life, reliving many happy times, thankful for all those wonderful memories of shared times, children's laughter, those in the season of winter wonder how they managed to do everything in the summer of their lives!  Muscles and joints don't work like they once did. 

Is this a sad season, this winter of life?  Not at all--Christians have been "looking up" most of their lives, but in this season, faith in God sustains, knowing that heaven will be theirs one of these days.  The sun is nearly set, casting colorful rays over the horizon. 

The journey of seasons is almost over, but the eternal journey is about to begin!

Are you ready?